Yoo Cheol-gyu: "Government Operation Rights Should Not Be Given to Lee Jae-myung... Urging Reconsideration of Agreement"

Public Housing Project Cut by 90%
Lee Jae-myung's Pledge to Increase Rental Housing Budget by 6 Trillion Won
Yoon Government Policies Hampered

Lee Cheol-gyu, the budget committee secretary of the People Power Party, is attending and speaking at the '2023 Budget Proposal Debate' held at the National Assembly on the 25th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] On the 28th, members of the People Power Party belonging to the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Special Committee urged a re-examination through bipartisan agreement, stating that "the Democratic Party of Korea is unilaterally processing the budget review in standing committees by leveraging numerical superiority."

Lee Cheol-gyu, the ruling party secretary of the Budget Committee, held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office on the same day and said, "Although the Political Affairs Committee and the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee did not reach a bipartisan agreement on the budget bill, the Democratic Party unilaterally pushed through the process while People Power Party members were absent and referred it to the Budget Committee," adding, "Despite Article 57 of our Constitution granting the government the right to consent to budget increases, the Democratic Party violated this by approving the budget in the standing committee without seeking the government's consent for the increase."

After the press conference, Lee met with reporters and criticized, "Publicly supplied housing is a key project of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, but proposing a 90% cut is an attempt to hinder the government's policy implementation," and added, "The rental housing budget was increased by 6 trillion won, but that does not mean the government’s operational authority was handed over to Representative Lee Jae-myung." He continued, "The public supported and urged the implementation of policies based on President Yoon Seok-yeol’s election pledges, but obstructing and preventing this in the National Assembly by leveraging numerical superiority is not the proper attitude of a responsible political party." He further stated, "If the standing committee does not amend it, this budget project will be completely irrecoverable," and added, "This is not a reasonable cut but a retaliatory one. I consider it a fundamental obstruction."

Lee also said, "If the government, using the power of the majority party, had prepared a wasteful budget or a populist budget like past administrations, it would be justified to block it and gain public support, but this budget is a precious one aimed at expanding growth engines for the future of the Republic of Korea and helping middle-class citizens realize their dream of owning a home. Would the public tolerate obstructing such a budget?"